When was the book of durrow written

Thus, its date is uncertain and controversial. The later provenance and the colophon give some reasons for thinking that the book was produced in a Columban monastery, and are used as supporting evidence by those who consider the manuscript to have been written in Ireland or Iona Henry, Nordenfalk.

Textual and paleographical evidence is adduced by those who, favouring an origin in Northumbria Lowe, Bruce-Mitford, Brown , also tend to a slightly later date c. Certainly by the early tenth century, when a silver case now lost was made for the manuscript, it was considered to be a relic of the saint.

In the seventeenth century this led a section of manuscript to be dipped in a cattle trough as a cure. Why not explore the Book of Durrow for yourself? The Book of Durrow. A 1, year old masterpiece in the Library of Trinity College Dublin. The Book of Durrow f. The manuscript takes its name from the monastery of the same name in County Offaly. It was founded by St Colum Cille at the end of the sixth century.

Throughout the early medieval period it was an important centre of learning and trade, and the burial place of local kings. Although it is not known whether the manuscript was made at Durrow, it was definitely there by the eleventh century and remained there until the s, when it was acquired by the Library of Trinity College Dublin. The Book of Kells f. This art style was also used to decorate many of the initials in the manuscript. The survival of the manuscript for so long is extraordinary.

Others simply signed their names with a request to be remembered in prayers. The Library of Trinity College Dublin. Ireland, however, was apparently not all that important to the marauding Germanic pagans and they were left alone to develop a unique version of monastic Christianity. So when St Columbia reintroduced Christianity back into England by establishing monasteries in Iona, Scotland in and Northumbria in these Germanic and Celtic artistic traditions merged — a cross-pollination of sorts — into what is now known as Insular 5 or Hibero-Saxon art.

The Insular scribes and illuminators were heavily influenced by Hibero-Saxon crafts: The complex interlaced knotting, perhaps the most recognizable Insular form, was borrowed from Celtic metalwork, the iconography of animals was borrowed from Germanic zoomorphic designs and the images of the Jesus and the Evangelists from Pictish grave markers. Of course, of all these other sources are now largely forgotten and it is the manuscripts that define the art. The Insular manuscript ended with the invasion of Ireland by the Normans in —, which ushered in the Romanesque style.

Many insular design elements, however, continued to be adapted and used as decorative motifs. A millenium later Insular design, often under the misnomer Celtic design, continues to be popular; try an Amazon search, e. The Book of Durrow contains the complete compliment of Insular designs.

Each gospel is laid out with a full-page miniature of the evangelist or his symbol:. Then a purely ornamental full-page geometric design — a carpet page, named after its resemblance to a Persian rug:. Then an incipit page where the text begins with an elaborately decorated initial letter. These historiated initials became so large that they were integrated into the rest of the text by several lines of decreasing size — an effect known as diminuendo:.

Although impressive in its own right, the Book of Durrow only hints at what was to come.